The droppings of some guy's imagination.

NFL Power Rankings – Week 10

Another week of strange results, none stranger than the Miami Dolphins lining up six guys behind center to beat the Tennessee Titans. As the season evolves, the movements up and down the table get smaller. That said, when you hang 59 points up, it gets you noticed. As always this is a combination of scoring margin and opponents scoring margin against other teams – this week’s story is about the actual data, and not the ordinal data per se:

Rank

Team

W

L

T

Margin

Sched Rtg

SOS Rank

Last Wk

1

Titans

5

4

0

11.663

2.969

9

1

2

Packers

6

3

0

11.25

1.583

19

3

3

Jets

7

2

0

10.649

2.26

13

4

4

Steelers

6

3

0

10.521

4.382

2

2

5

Eagles

6

3

0

10.32

3.431

4

9

6

Patriots

7

2

0

9.219

2.524

12

12

7

Falcons

7

2

0

8.552

2.108

17

8

8

Colts

6

3

0

8.336

0.28

24

6

9

Chargers

4

5

0

8.056

1.611

18

7

10

Ravens

6

3

0

7.618

2.229

14

11

11

Giants

6

3

0

5.883

0.078

25

5

12

Lions

2

7

0

5.878

3.045

8

10

13

Raiders

5

4

0

5.809

0.642

23

15

14

Browns

3

6

0

5.313

4.868

1

14

15

Saints

6

3

0

4.809

-1.914

32

16

16

Chiefs

5

4

0

3.938

-0.007

26

13

17

Dolphins

5

4

0

3.681

3.958

3

21

18

Bears

6

3

0

3.347

-1.042

29

19

19

Vikings

3

6

0

1.851

2.795

10

17

20

Bengals

2

7

0

0.854

2.132

16

22

21

Broncos

3

6

0

-0.01

3.156

6

26

22

Rams

4

5

0

-0.198

-1.67

31

23

23

Redskins

4

5

0

-0.303

3.086

7

18

24

Texans

4

5

0

-0.328

2.561

11

20

25

Seahawks

5

4

0

-1.443

-0.054

27

27

26

49ers

3

6

0

-1.455

1.212

20

25

27

Cowboys

2

7

0

-1.963

2.176

15

29

28

Bucs

6

3

0

-1.966

-1.521

30

24

29

Jaguars

5

4

0

-3.368

1.076

21

30

30

Bills

1

8

0

-4.191

3.253

5

31

31

Cardinals

3

6

0

-6.686

0.786

22

28

32

Panthers

1

8

0

-10.748

-0.137

28

32

As I mentioned above, the actual numbers are the story of the NFL right now, much less so than the Titans still measuring up as the #1 team in the league. Why is this the case? Well, let’s take a trip down memory lane to last year’s final rankings.

Rank

Team

W

L

T

Margin

Sched Rtg

SOS Rank

1

Saints

13

3

0

12.538

0.475

25

2

Patriots

10

6

0

12.133

3.227

5

3

Packers

11

5

0

11.944

0.413

27

4

Vikings

12

4

0

11.874

0.64

23

5

Ravens

9

7

0

11.219

2.063

11

6

Cowboys

11

5

0

10.699

2.011

13

7

Chargers

13

3

0

10.188

0.423

26

8

Colts

14

2

0

9.914

1.711

18

9

Jets

9

7

0

9.729

1.901

14

10

Eagles

11

5

0

9.171

1.858

16

11

Falcons

9

7

0

6.74

2.943

6

12

Panthers

8

8

0

5.963

4.01

2

13

Texans

9

7

0

5.575

0.388

29

14

Steelers

9

7

0

5.55

1.05

20

15

49ers

8

8

0

5.202

0.389

28

16

Cardinals

10

6

0

4.446

-0.429

32

17

Bengals

9

7

0

4.286

2.333

8

18

Dolphins

7

9

0

3.912

4.037

1

19

Broncos

8

8

0

3.553

1.85

17

20

Giants

8

8

0

3.203

3.265

4

21

Titans

8

8

0

1.861

2.205

9

22

Bears

7

9

0

0.74

1.881

15

23

Bills

6

10

0

-0.157

2.343

7

24

Redskins

4

12

0

-2.254

0.215

30

25

Jaguars

7

9

0

-2.682

0.896

21

26

Bucs

3

13

0

-4.159

3.747

3

27

Chiefs

5

11

0

-5.081

0.513

24

28

Browns

5

11

0

-5.145

1.23

19

29

Seahawks

5

11

0

-5.289

0.039

31

30

Raiders

5

11

0

-6.96

2.181

10

31

Lions

2

14

0

-10.271

2.057

12

32

Rams

1

15

0

-13.181

0.756

22

As we see even with the flawed sample here, that the top rating of 12.5 points (and remember these are points scored netted by opponents scoring margin) is higher than the current Titans score of 11.7. And the league worst Panthers rating of -10.7 is significantly better than the Rams’ -13.2 stinkfest. Put into English, the league is squished together more this season. Indeed, the median for this year to date is 3.7 versus last year’s 4.3. Of course last year, we know the Colts and Saints sat people the last couple of weeks. So let’s cut this off at Week 14:

Rank

Team

W

L

T

Margin

Sched Rtg

SOS Rank

1

Saints

13

1

0

15.493

0.814

25

2

Colts

14

0

0

14.307

2.539

9

3

Ravens

8

6

0

12.084

2.477

10

4

Patriots

9

5

0

11.972

3.544

3

5

Eagles

10

4

0

11.075

1.468

18

6

Vikings

11

3

0

10.768

0.072

28

7

Chargers

11

3

0

9.875

0.946

23

8

Cowboys

9

5

0

8.714

1.964

16

9

Packers

9

5

0

8.408

-0.36

30

10

Giants

8

6

0

7.431

3.163

4

11

Bengals

9

5

0

6.668

2.026

15

12

Jets

7

7

0

6.498

1.123

20

13

Cardinals

9

5

0

6.079

0.151

27

14

Broncos

8

6

0

5.66

2.321

11

15

Texans

7

7

0

5.535

0.856

24

16

49ers

6

8

0

5.438

2.759

8

17

Falcons

7

7

0

5.275

3.9

1

18

Dolphins

7

7

0

4.399

3.613

2

19

Steelers

7

7

0

4.274

0.024

29

20

Titans

7

7

0

3.663

2.806

6

21

Panthers

6

8

0

1.988

2.952

5

22

Jaguars

7

7

0

-0.727

1.433

19

23

Bears

5

9

0

-1.265

1.717

17

24

Bills

5

9

0

-1.654

1.096

21

25

Redskins

4

10

0

-2.122

-0.479

31

26

Seahawks

5

9

0

-4.381

-0.81

32

27

Bucs

2

12

0

-5.989

2.797

7

28

Browns

3

11

0

-6.633

2.082

14

29

Raiders

5

9

0

-6.823

2.302

12

30

Chiefs

3

11

0

-8.12

0.415

26

31

Lions

2

12

0

-10.148

2.191

13

32

Rams

1

13

0

-12.059

1.048

22

The bookends are even MORE pronounced once we removed the garbage time week. In fact last year by that time, there were four teams that graded higher than any team does this year. Last year, there was only one team within three points of the Saints (the Colts). As of now there are 7 teams separated by that margin at the top. I am not sure if Tennessee is the best, and the wins sure don’t indicate that they are. But the numbers are so constricted that their case that they could be … is not torn to crap – not yet anyway.

As far as other news goes? The Bucs are sure low ranked for a 28th rated team. Deal with it, they need to beat somebody we respect Finally, I am not sure if the Eagles are the 2nd best team in the NFC, but if Vick is healthy and it clicks like last night – their offense can surely impersonate an unbeatable lot.